This invention relates generally to mating male and female insulated electrical connector assemblies wherein a number of pairs of electrical wires are connected together by insertion of one male connector block into a mating female connector block.
Various insulated connector assemblies have been devised for engaging a male terminal with a mating female receptacle. However, in the case of the female receptacle, once the female receptacle terminal is inserted into the connector, internal shoulders within the connector body engage the female receptacle such that either withdrawal of the receptacle from the body or further insertion is prevented. There is no visual means to determine the condition of the internal shoulders except by exerting pulling or pushing force on the wire connected to the female receptacle to determine whether the female receptacle is firmly engaged with the internal shoulders. Excessive pulling force may shear off the retaining shoulder destroying the retaining function of the connector.
In addition, there is no way to visually inspect, repair, or replace the female receptacle terminal without inserting special tools to disengage the internal shoulders from the inserted terminal. Thus, replacement of an individual female receptacle terminal within the connector assembly is often precluded unless special tools are available and used. During troubleshooting and inspection of the electrical circuits of which these single or multi-conductor connectors are a part, it is often desirable to be able to inspect the condition of the female receptacle terminal and the connector assembly as a whole. This ability to visually inspect the components is greatly limited in the prior art connector designs.